I obviously can’t speak for audiences as a whole, but I feel like superhero movies need to go away for a while. You’ve been milking that cow as hard as possible for at least 20 years and I am sick and tired of milk at this point. It’s not sexism because the main character is female, it’s not that lesser known characters don’t draw interest, it’s not that you needed a more well known lead, it’s not that movies are too expensive. Yes, all of those things probably contribute to this outcome in one way or another, but for me personally I just don’t want to see the same movie for the 50th time.
They haven’t gone away, but they’ve scaled back significantly over the last few years. We used to get 3 MCU films and then a handful of DC films per year.
In 2024 we had a single superhero blockbuster, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and it brought in 1.3 billion globally.
In 2025 we did have four films. Captain America Brave New World and Thunderbolts, and both did 2x their budget aka “broke even”. Captain America was a bit of a mess, but Thunderbolts reviewed well and I think anyone who watched it really enjoyed it. Fantastic Four did a little better and I think people are interested. And that was just the MCU, DC only put out Superman which did well both financially and critically.
In 2026 we’re looking at three superhero films. Supergirl, which is doing just ok critically, but probably going to do very poorly financially. And again this is the only DC film. The MCU is going to give us Spider-Man in July and I bet it will do really well. Then at the end of the year we get Doomsday which is hard to say. I think it will do ok, but maybe not.
Looking forward into 2027 is interesting. We’re going to get four superhero films, but from four different universes. DCU will have Man of Tomorrow. MCU will have Secret Wars. Spider-Verse will have Beyond the Spider-Verse. Robert Pattinson Batman will have its sequel film.
I know that seems like a lot of overall “superhero movies”, but if you look at it per franchise then you’ll see that everyone has dialed back. DCU is at one per year. MCU is averaging about two per year. Big gaps force everyone else.
But importantly, all of this aside, if good superhero films are made I don’t think anyone really cares. People don’t want to see mid movies. We’re more forgiving when a non-superhero film is mid because everyone forgets about it and moves on.
But Supergirl? You saw her a year ago in Superman. You saw her this year in her own movie. You’re seeing her next year in Man of Tomorrow. She had a small part, then her movie stunk, and I don’t even care about her anymore. Enough Supergirl! That’s the current negative vibe going around right now,
But Superman? I saw his movie a year ago. I saw him show up in this movie. He’s in another movie next year. What an awesome introduction. Best part of the Supergirl movie. Can’t wait to see him team up next. That’s the Superman vibe.
Make good movies, people will see them and they’ll be excited to see them.
I am sure many people are fine with superhero movies being on repeat constantly, but I’m not, and that’s the point I was making. I’m sure I’m not the only one either. At this point I don’t care about the quality of the film. I’m tired of the genre as a whole and I’m not going to watch any of them.
I feel like superhero movies need to go away for a while
Yes, please.
I’ve even tuned out superhero stuff that a decade ago I would have been super interested in. The zone got way too flooded. So many movies, and even more TV shows. Less stuff, higher quality writing please.
You’re not the target audience. Kids love these movies, no reason for them to go away. They’ve loved these films since Flash Gordon and even earlier I think Batman was in silent movies.
My “whole point” is my personal preference. That can’t be wrong by definition. I don’t work in the industry and I never set this up as a complex analysis of industry trends. If that’s the level of conversation you want to have that’s fine but don’t act like people wanting to have a casual conversation are wrong just because you want to talk about something else. You sound like a tool when you do that.
A whole lot of people in Idiocracy liked Ow! My Balls!
For me personally, there’s so many superhero movies/shows now, and so many are awful, that I’ve given up trying to sort through them for the gems. It’s made me actively avoid the genre.
Overdoing something can definitely kill it. That’s the message here.
I obviously can’t speak for audiences as a whole, but I feel like superhero movies need to go away for a while. You’ve been milking that cow as hard as possible for at least 20 years and I am sick and tired of milk at this point. It’s not sexism because the main character is female, it’s not that lesser known characters don’t draw interest, it’s not that you needed a more well known lead, it’s not that movies are too expensive. Yes, all of those things probably contribute to this outcome in one way or another, but for me personally I just don’t want to see the same movie for the 50th time.
They haven’t gone away, but they’ve scaled back significantly over the last few years. We used to get 3 MCU films and then a handful of DC films per year.
In 2024 we had a single superhero blockbuster, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and it brought in 1.3 billion globally.
In 2025 we did have four films. Captain America Brave New World and Thunderbolts, and both did 2x their budget aka “broke even”. Captain America was a bit of a mess, but Thunderbolts reviewed well and I think anyone who watched it really enjoyed it. Fantastic Four did a little better and I think people are interested. And that was just the MCU, DC only put out Superman which did well both financially and critically.
In 2026 we’re looking at three superhero films. Supergirl, which is doing just ok critically, but probably going to do very poorly financially. And again this is the only DC film. The MCU is going to give us Spider-Man in July and I bet it will do really well. Then at the end of the year we get Doomsday which is hard to say. I think it will do ok, but maybe not.
Looking forward into 2027 is interesting. We’re going to get four superhero films, but from four different universes. DCU will have Man of Tomorrow. MCU will have Secret Wars. Spider-Verse will have Beyond the Spider-Verse. Robert Pattinson Batman will have its sequel film.
I know that seems like a lot of overall “superhero movies”, but if you look at it per franchise then you’ll see that everyone has dialed back. DCU is at one per year. MCU is averaging about two per year. Big gaps force everyone else.
But importantly, all of this aside, if good superhero films are made I don’t think anyone really cares. People don’t want to see mid movies. We’re more forgiving when a non-superhero film is mid because everyone forgets about it and moves on.
But Supergirl? You saw her a year ago in Superman. You saw her this year in her own movie. You’re seeing her next year in Man of Tomorrow. She had a small part, then her movie stunk, and I don’t even care about her anymore. Enough Supergirl! That’s the current negative vibe going around right now,
But Superman? I saw his movie a year ago. I saw him show up in this movie. He’s in another movie next year. What an awesome introduction. Best part of the Supergirl movie. Can’t wait to see him team up next. That’s the Superman vibe.
Make good movies, people will see them and they’ll be excited to see them.
I am sure many people are fine with superhero movies being on repeat constantly, but I’m not, and that’s the point I was making. I’m sure I’m not the only one either. At this point I don’t care about the quality of the film. I’m tired of the genre as a whole and I’m not going to watch any of them.
Yes, please.
I’ve even tuned out superhero stuff that a decade ago I would have been super interested in. The zone got way too flooded. So many movies, and even more TV shows. Less stuff, higher quality writing please.
You’re not the target audience. Kids love these movies, no reason for them to go away. They’ve loved these films since Flash Gordon and even earlier I think Batman was in silent movies.
You know what else is getting tiresome? That argument. You sound like an old man yelling at clouds.
Don’t misattribute blame. Obviously some of them are doing well. That crushes your whole point.
My “whole point” is my personal preference. That can’t be wrong by definition. I don’t work in the industry and I never set this up as a complex analysis of industry trends. If that’s the level of conversation you want to have that’s fine but don’t act like people wanting to have a casual conversation are wrong just because you want to talk about something else. You sound like a tool when you do that.
A whole lot of people in Idiocracy liked Ow! My Balls!
For me personally, there’s so many superhero movies/shows now, and so many are awful, that I’ve given up trying to sort through them for the gems. It’s made me actively avoid the genre.
Overdoing something can definitely kill it. That’s the message here.